Cat Ba

After making our way from Pu Luong, we spent one night in Hanoi before catching the ferry to Cat Ba Island. In the morning, we went to the gym, had coffee, and one of our new favourite drinks that we have recently come to enjoy: strawberry matcha. We both used to think that matcha tasted like grass, but are coming around to it after trying some delicious ones in Vietnam.

Our trip to Cat Ba was not the most pleasant. The bus was very hot and our bus driver was rude and angry. The heat combined with not really having lunch resulted in Jack getting heatstroke on the bus. We took a bus, then onto a ferry boat, then drove a crazy windy road on Cat Ba island and Jack almost passed out. Fortunately, the windy road was short and we made it to our hotel in about 15 minutes, but for Jack, those 15 minutes felt never ending. We took it easy this night, hydrated a lot, and ate some more typical food like we’d have at home (crackers, then later some spaghetti).

Cat Ba day 1:

After yesterdays ordeal, we had a nice slow morning and enjoyed a complimentary breakfast at our home stay. Then for the first time, we rented a scooter. Cat Ba is a great place to try it out in South East Asia because it’s pretty quiet, especially compared to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh. Our first stop on the scooter was to find a barber shop so Jack could get a haircut. Next up, we went to one of the famous beaches, rented lounge chairs, swam and read our books. We had another early night again tonight after a quick dunk in the pool. Our home stay was run by a really lovely family and it was obvious how much love and effort they put into keeping their property beautiful.

Cat Ba day 2:

This was our big tour day and we were out of the house for the majority of the day. The day got started early when we were picked up at 8am and driven to the harbour. We got on our tour boat, and cruised our way through Lan Ha Bay. Continuing on, we travelled to Ha Long Bay, which was incredibly beautiful just like in the pictures you see online. Ha Long Bay is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and in 2012, the New 7 Wonders Foundation officially named it as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. We got off the boat and hopped into kayaks to make our way through beautiful blue waters and through caves. It was sad to see how much garbage was washing up in such a special place. We also saw a famous skinny rock that has somehow never blown over in a storm (see photo below).

Post exploring, we had a massive feast for lunch filled with local dishes of rice, grouper fish (a local variety of the fish which is much smaller than the one more commonly known), chicken, vegetables, and as always some fresh fruit. Afterwards, we suntanned, jumped off the deck, and swam to a small beach with the most magnificent clear blue water. The next stop on our boat tour was to a local village, which we accessed by golf cart. It’s really nice that the tours and long distance busses always include a stop at a village along the way so you can learn about their culture and also support their economies. We hopped on bikes to explore the area and even got to try the fish foot massage, which was extremely ticklish and weird! Julia did not like it at all and was only able to keep her foot in for a second. Jack got a bit more used to it and kept his in for longer. This was quite a strange experience, but we’re happy to have tried it once (and probably won’t again)! The final stop on our tour was to visit the floating village near Lan Ha Bay. The village is home to 900 families who raise fish and other seafood and sell them to the mainland. They are located in a very exposed area, however, so when there are bad storms or typhoons, they have to tow all the floating houses behind large rock outcroppings and to safer waters. They are also the most impoverished people and the tax payers help subsidize them by providing services like a small boat and bus to take the kids to the local elementary school on the mainland. After this final stop on our tour, we were pretty tired after a full day of activities, so we came home, swam in the pool, had dinner and went to sleep early again.

Cat Ba day 3:

Our third and final full day started how most do with coffee, breakfast and a game of cards. We then rented a scooter, and went to Cat Ba National Park. We did a short hike and saw some amazing views from each of the 2 viewpoints. Even though the hike was only around 4km round trip and 250m elevation gain, the heat and humidity made it even more challenging. All the hikes that we have done so far have been challenging for this reason. We finish them nice and sweaty and always need to replenish our electrolytes. We had a post hike swim in our pool, played our usual game of cards at dinner, then went to sleep before another travel day back to Hanoi (for the third and final time).

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